Updates to the Hermosillo Story

Greg and Shelli have posted updates to their blog about doors that God is opening in ministering to the burn victims and their families that I've been following here.

See their stories here and here.

I'm still at a loss for what to say about this story. The stories are so hard, and the pain is so deep. We know that suffering, grief and death aren't the last words. But they are certainly the prevalent ones right now.

Another Introduction

Wally and Esther have spent the last couple of days finishing up their orientation with the Home Office staff. They have been independent missionaries in Nicaragua for the last 1.5yrs, and will be returning in July under the banner of the EFCCM. Their primary ministry is with an orphanage. It's become apparent that I should define that term, and why it's becoming increasingly important to the EFCCM.

In Western countries, an orphanage is usually thought of as a temporary solution until foster care or adoption becomes available to children. In most other countries, that isn't so. There are few people that can ably adopt children. Typically, they have been abandoned because families don't have the ability to provide for them. Or they are at risk of abuse. Or they have been orphaned by war, famine or disease.

Children in such desperate situations have few options and little hope of a better life. Through an orphanage we can provide safety, nutrition and hygiene. But we can offer so much more. When we can intervene at a young age, we can change negative trends and thought patterns. We can offer hope. And we can introduce children to their Creator. That's the path which offers the most improvement and healing.

The EFCCM is committing to orphanages in Bolivia and Nicaragua, and at least one of our EFCC churches is supporting orphanages in Ukraine too. God certainly has a heart for children, and we at the EFCCM do too.

Letting You in on Something

I thought I would share some of the communication ideas and plans that we're working on here at the EFCC and EFCCM.

First, we've chewed on the idea of starting a Facebook presence or a Twitter feed for the denomination. Frankly, I don't think it makes much sense for us. There isn't a crying demand for such a thing. (Actually, just building awareness of our current efforts is challenge enough.) It doesn't seem to be worth the time investment, not when it all basically comes down to one guy. If there was a cause that I thought was worth championing, or a way that I could harness social media for a larger collaborative effort, I'd jump at it. So it's something that we'll continue to think about, but it makes sense to me to keep things within reason for now.

With that said, we're working on unveiling a brand new website for the EFCC and the EFCCM. It will be handled almost entirely in-house, so that we have the control for the layout and we'll be able to make changes much quicker for you. That will improve not just how information appears, but also how the site functions for online donation, Conference registration and things like that. Our hope is that the new site will be a much better presence for connecting the whole EFCC community.

Perhaps you'd be interested in helping EFCC/M Communications. There are a number of ways you can. Most of them don't take a ton of work or thought.

• Start a dialogue. If you've seen something that connected with you, tell your friends, your family, your pastor, your missionaries. If the blog is only words on a page, it's pretty much useless.
  
• Content is king. Offer suggestions for stories and posts that you think would be a compelling reason to keep coming back here.
• Join the gang. Are you a writer, photographer or videographer that would be willing to volunteer time to tell great stories? There's no shortage of stories to tell -- and at Home Office we want to tell more of them!
  

PulseTV Episode 2

Episode 2 is here!



Not only is it available online, but just like the first episode, I've also made it available in two different versions for download (simply right click and select "save link as..."):
MP4 version (approx 17.5MB)
WMV version (approx 23MB)

Additionally we have a convenient DVD with both episodes heading to all of our EFCC congregations with the printed Pulse. The Pulse and PulseTV, together at last. Cue violin music and sunset lighting. :-)

We appreciate your comments and suggestions offered for Episode 1. We've tried to incorporate many of them into Episode 2. And with your help, we'll keep making it better as we go.

We hope that you will be encouraged and inspired as we continue to share the stories of what God is doing in Canada and around the world. We hope that you'll share these stories with others, and that you'll share your stories with us!

Sad Story in Hermosillo

Our missionaries in Hermosillo, Mexico have been reporting a very sad story. There was a fire at a day care that claimed the lives of 46 children. This has thrown the whole city into mourning.

Pray that in the midst of the shock, pain and grief, that our missionary couples will be able to respond in a life-affirming way.

Greg and Shelli have posted about it on their blog.

And Lane and Sheri have made several posts on theirs.

I'm not sure what to say about all this, except to request your prayer that the Lord's comfort would be a real presence among the victims' families and friends.

World of Hope is Coming!

This is just a far-in-advance heads-up about the EFCCM's 3rd annual World of Hope. Our dream is that it is even more connected and useful for our supporters and churches this year. We were told that some churches had made their decisions about the international projects they were supporting before the World of Hope brochure arrived. We're trying to avoid that.

Each year, the World of Hope booklet provides a comprehensive list of the EFCCM's active international projects. There's something for everyone! We work to appeal to a wide variety of budgets and ministry objectives. The projects represented in World of Hope are important, strategic, and feed directly into our missionaries' calling.

Ideally we would like to see World of Hope help to inform the decisions of our supporters and donors. If you would like to be a part of that, please contact us (here are the best ways) and let us know how many copies of the brochure you'd like, and where you want them sent. (If you're contacting us on behalf of a church, please let us know which one.)

I made up a little promotional flyer for this. You can download it here (470KB).

How Far Can You Stretch $200?

If the previous post whet your appetite for Lithuania stories, here's another from Nathan and Dawn.



We recently received a generous $200 donation from a friend in Canada, with a request that we use it to purchase supplies for the Salvation Army food bank. With so many people struggling to feed their families these days, the tiny Salvation Army food bank has been stretched by an overwhelming number of appeals for help. So today, armed with two shopping carts, the Salvation Army van, the help of Joakim (a Swedish SA officer who lives here), and a thick wallet, we stormed the aisles of the largest grocery store in town. We tried to purchase things that were most needed at the food bank, and all of us were surprised by how much we were able to keep piling into our carts. Here’s just how far $200 can go:

• 15 loaves of bread
• 20 bottles of vegetable oil
• 20 containers of margarine
• 24 kilograms of sugar
• 20 boxes of tea
• 70 tins of meat
• 20 bags of dried pearl barley
• 90 packets of ramen noodle soup
• 20 bags of macaroni pasta

Congrats, Nathan!

I just received this from Daryl, our Europe and Asia Area Director:

"Nathan has been offered a full time job at the company where he has been teaching English part-time. Praise the Lord! He will expand his role and have more opportunities for building relationships to lead people to Christ."

This is good news, as Nathan and Dawn have been especially seeking the Lord's will for their continued presence in Lithuania. From where I am at least, this looks like an answer!